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Topic Review (Newest First)

09-04-2013 09:00 PM

ltgoshen

Re: Cool new android app

Great thread... Lot of great opinion's out there. I'm glad the apps are out there. I look forward to the time when I can think my boat into its birth hands free...

09-03-2013 10:40 PM

Mac6464

Re: Cool new android app

Not really interested...looks like advertising to me....

09-02-2013 11:54 PM

Mac6464

Re: Cool new android app

Anybody know if their is an App like this for the IPHONE?
Tks,
Mac6464

08-29-2013 03:41 PM

canucksailorguy

Re: Cool new android app

Speaking for myself, I personally check the areas I report on regarding navigation. It's not possible to check every single anchorage in a given season so I use a two year 'rotation', but Great Lakes anchorages (Georgian Bay, North Channel) tend not to change significantly, unlike anchorages in tidal areas, where shoaling, etc. can effect changes in short periods of time.
As for the marinas, those can often be dealt with using other sources for information when I can't personally visit them.
In the area I write on noted above, I make a point of checking the Active Captain posts - many of them are inaccurate or incorrect, and I've said this publicly before, so I'm not piling on here. The problem isn't Active Captain, but the way in which information is provided to AC, and other 'crowdsourcing' sites.
Transients (for example), who travel through once, get lucky and find the one 'sweet spot' in an otherwise marginal anchorage and report it as being a gem - or find the one bad spot in an otherwise great anchorage. Also - the Small Craft Route through the 30,000 Islands is very very tricky, with lots of granite and narrow channels, it's far beyond what the ICW for example presents. Boaters not experienced in reading these conditions will report inaccurately on the route, although tens of thousands of local boaters safely and confidently use it every season. I've been sailing and boating in the region for 40 years btw.
As for what checks Active Captain provides on its postings, I have no idea. And since the owner of AC has never been to the Canadian Great Lakes...
The rationale, as I've heard it explained before, is that the sheer volume of posts will provide a check on the information. I don't buy that, and I'm not real keen on reading 25 posts while trying to figure out just who knows what he's talking about and who doesn't.
I don't know Shellenburger, so I can't comment. I can say that I recently turned down an assignment to write on the CB because I felt I didn't know the area under discussion well enough to do a credible job.

As for reports from others, my experience (as a cruising editor with Waterway Guides) with the entire crowdsourcing thing has been that at least 50% of the information I've reviewed is either wrong or unreliable, and 20% wrong to the point of being dangerous. I won't trust my vessel, nor base my navigation decisions, on people whose skills and knowledge are unknown and who may have passed through the area once and gotten lucky in choosing an anchorage.

Canuck, you raise a valid point. But I'm left wondering, how is the information in the Waterway Guides obtained and verified? Is the process different from what AC does? I'm not trying to be argumentative. I really am just curious because I don't know.

I bought the latest edition (2012) of Shellenberger's book about cruising the Chesapeake Bay, but found it was a waste of $ because I do not trust its contents. It describes, for example, an island in the Rhode River that no longer exists and has not existed for quite a few years.

Let's not turn this thread into a shadow boxing match, please. It's not fair if both parties aren't involved. Discussing the merits of crowdsourcing in its own thread is fine.

That was as far as I was taking it Donna, and for that reason.

08-29-2013 12:41 PM

DRFerron

Re: Cool new android app

Let's not turn this thread into a shadow boxing match, please. It's not fair if both parties aren't involved. Discussing the merits of crowdsourcing in its own thread is fine.

08-29-2013 12:10 PM

canucksailorguy

Re: Cool new android app

[/QUOTE]And this was a really good "fog day". We were gone 31 days, five of them were less than 1/8 mile vis. And two of those were serious passage making through not nice stuff. We thought 5 out of 31 was a great number.
Rik[/QUOTE]

That concern seems plausible, and worth discussing. Is this what got you banned from using AC?

No, it wasn't, it was another issue on another forum site, he has a habit of attacking people with whom he disagrees, it's well known in the industry - but if you'd like to better understand the man, search his posts here on Sailnet.

[edit - if I sailed in an area of frequent fog, I would have radar....]

Welcome to The Bay of Fundy and the Coast of Maine

And this was a really good "fog day". We were gone 31 days, five of them were less than 1/8 mile vis. And two of those were serious passage making through not nice stuff. We thought 5 out of 31 was a great number.

Rik

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